I am about to go into the academy down here in VA. I know that the package you get comes out of your paycheck, but I think the actual classes don't. Although you will be under contract for 2 years, so it is a semi-long term choice to go into the grooming academy. The locations should be in-state. I have two very close to me, so I'm sure there are many in-state in Colorado.

Hi, I just started as a bather and I would like to go to the grooming academy. I was advised it is better to not buy the packaged kit from Petsmart and to just get my own equipment. Does anyone know what equipment comes with the kit and/or what I need to buy to get started? Thanks

valannb22 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma said: Hi, I just started as a bather and I would like to go to the grooming academy. I was advised it is better to not buy the packaged kit from Petsmart and to just get my own equipment. Does anyone know what equipment comes with the kit and/or what I need to buy to get started? Thanks

I would buy everything yourself. I wish I had. My clippers broke 1 month into training...I didn't have a back up so I had to purchase a new pair at the store! Even with the discount I could have gotten a better pair cheaper at Petedge or Pawbrothers.

I don't see what the big deal about asking for ad ons is. Give the "I reccommend the_____ shampoo, or top dog, or whatever for your dog because __________" is not a huge deal. If it is a regular customer" I reccommend _____ this time of year because ______" or " WOW! _______ has dry skin, rough fur, sharp nails,smelly breath, whatever do you want to try ___________ this time?"

I don't get why y'all make such a big deal about ASKING if they want on add on.

As far as taking your clients....you do sign a non-compete and you probably will anywhere. That is standard for human and pet salons. If your clients "find" you...that is your business....if you do something to take them away from petsmart, like look up thier #s in the system and call them all, then you are violating a noncompete, which would not be tolerated anywhere.

You are probably not getting yelled at or sued if you are doing what you should be. If you usually do what you should then a little overtime, or forgetting to mention an add on will just result in a "Hey...try to manage your time better." or "don't forget the add ons!...such and such is on pet perks!" If you have too many dogs for comfort, then you need to talk to your DM. No one wants you to be unsafe. If you keep going into overtime, you need to use your time more wisely.

OK, well, here's an opinion of the program from a NON program trained groomer who worked at two of the locations for almost a year and a half.

It isn't great. The girls I worked with who went through it learned nothing but shavedowns. The instructor is restricted to the 'curriculum', which, I would be amazed if an actual groomer wrote that. The accounts I heard from these ladies were that you have one instructor, and upwards of TEN grooming students in a regular store salon, PLUS the instructor is also the salon manager, and still has to manage her own groomers. The girls I worked with knew I knew competition level breed grooming for Terrier, Herding and Spaniel breeds, and would show me their books to review when they came to visit, to see if I had any tips. Oh dear god did I have tips. I had to re-train every one of them in the patterned breed trims once they got back to the salon. I was asked at one point by my manager if I wanted to become a masterstylist (the level you must reach to instruct) and I considered it, until I learned that I would be held to the sucky curriculum as well. It's not worth it.

Do yourself a favor and get a student loan and go to a reputable grooming school. Groomers trained by this company have a bad rap in the rest of the grooming world, and unless they seek higher education and training by an outside agency or instructor, most find it hard to find a good grooming job (been in the industry for almost 10 years, I KNOW.) Not to mention, any location sounds like it is hell to try and work there for the 2 year commitment, PLUS your non compete will be more enforceable as then you would be using company knowledge to further your career elsewhere.

As far as taking your clients....you do sign a non-compete and you probably will anywhere. That is standard for human and pet salons. If your clients "find" you...that is your business....if you do something to take them away from petsmart, like look up thier #s in the system and call them all, then you are violating a noncompete, which would not be tolerated anywhere.

Actually dear, I have been a groomer for almost 10 years. The only non compete I signed was at Petsmart. The only other agreement that came close was the IC agreement I had with a daycare/boarding facility that stated I could keep my own client files of clients *I* brought in myself, but could not take anything out of the 'house' database, which is more than a reasonable request. It's just common courtesy to keep your paws off of 'house' records and take only your own.

I've worked at Petsmart for a year now. I started as a bather and then went through academy to groom. I thought long and hard about attending academy, because I knew I was going to get fed up with Petsmart before my 2 year contract was up. I looked at the cost of going to a private school vs. Petsmart. In the end I chose Petsmart, because I was paid to go to school. Academy at Petsmart varies from location to location, but in general the training is not enough to give you the knowledge and experience you need. My academy class was thankfully small- only 3 students- and we still had to fight for tables and room to groom. Here's my advice: Get to know your Petsmart salon manager before you sign the contract. If he/she is competent and willing to train you more, once you return from academy, then I say go to academy. You're going to need a lot of on the job training once you graduate. HOWEVER, if they are more interested in money, and they push the current groomers too much, seriously consider a different route for training. I am now in the position of being pushed too hard to do too many dogs every day. I am constantly being reprimanded for overtime, but my salon manager and store manager will not work with me to adjust my schedule. In fact, they are threatening to fire the entire salon crew and start over with a new crew because we aren't bringing in enough money. Might I mention we make OVER PLAN every week? That's right, we have higher OSAT scores by far than what is required in our district- and we make more money than the quota every week, and yet that's still not good enough. Some comments on here say work harder and do what is expected of you, and Petsmart will understand, but that IS NOT the case. My advice to new groomers is to find a competent groomer outside of Petsmart to train you, or go through Petsmart academy prepared to break the contract.

I would NOT EVER recommend doing Petsmarts Stylist Academy. I quit Petsmart after being a groomer over a year and my boyfriend also went thru the joke of an academy. He also quit shortly after me after we realized how absolutely absurd the policies and procedures, the pay (due to over staffing ruining anyone commissioning out)and the corporation in general is. He left petsmart less than a year after the contract, and now he is being pursued by this horrible corporation for the money from the "training". ( FYI his trainer sliced a dogs ear open while teaching and was an absolute bird brain who didnt teach them anything.) The most ridiculous part about this contract business is that there were two girls in his academy that DID NOT HAVE TO SIGN IT! Now how is this fair. I would NEVER EVER recommend someone to work for this corporation or sign their bull contract. You are wasting your time and will end up hating it. Go to a private trainer and work for a private company. This corporation in reality only care about one thing, their money, not about the pets and not about their employees.

Petsmart's Academy is a joke. They send you to another store and the manager there 'trains' 4-8 bathers to shave dogs. The Academy instructor may or may not be a horrible groomer. Then you go back to your own store and complete 100 dogs with your Salon Manager watching over you.
While you are learning to groom dogs you only make your hourly pay. So Petsmart makes 100% off of the dogs you groom.
The Store Managers will try to have Academies at their store all the time if they are money hungry because they make all the money off of the dogs the trainees groom. And the Managers want to be Academy Instructors because they make $1000 a week easy money.

Petsmart has high standards in what they expect dogs to look like, but most stores do not care, they just see the dollar signs with how many dogs you could potentially groom a week. We have a new girl at my store, who has only been grooming for maybe 2 months, and she is already doing 7 dogs a week, and they look HORRIBLE. But no one cares because she makes the salon lots of money.

I was lucky because after my Academy, when I went back to my own salon to have my Manager watch over my 100 dogs, she is actually a great groomer. I had to relearn everything because I literally learned nothing at Academy. And I had to do my own research in how to do most of the styles (like a wheaten clip) because they do not do much training on breed speciality clips. They might teach to you set a pattern, but westies do not have a line straight across, like they teach at the Academys at my store.

And DO NOT get the kits. they are garbage and you will have to end up rebuying all your tools. It might be alot to start out with, but it is WORTH IT to pick your own tools.
We buy all of our tools at online whole salers such as ryanspets or petedge.com

Yes you can potentinally make very good money, but it all depends on how you are trained, how your salon runs, how much business your store brings and and THIS JOB IS SEASONAL!

Hey Hey. Not all academys, like not all PetSmarts are created equally. We have awesome acadamys in our district. Our salons are usually slightly understaffed because we want our bathers to be PREPARED to be goomers. We don't just rush them through the mandatory bath dogs and ship them off to grooming acadamy. Some of the groomers in multiple stores i have worked at are making well over what the store director makes,not including tips; but they have great business savvy and customer service skills. The thing about PetSmart grooming is that you will get out of it what you put into it. The acadamy is a great opportunity to start a great career. However, you have to take charge of promoting your self. It islike owning your own business. That being said, If you can afford it I would buy your own stuff from the get go. If not, then the grooming kit is a great "starter" option since you dont have to shell out the $ up front and will be great to have as "back up" stuff in the future.

I havs to agree with the 2 previous posts.. Yes and no about academy. I'm seriously thinking about breaking my contract, I have less than a year left, but I know from first hand observation that you're not forced to re-pay if you break it.
The only reason I'm thinking of breaking it is that after academy, I went back to my store but now I'm working at an academy store.. Which of course means that the academy is getting all the dogs, we groomers are not commissioning out, being sent home early and therefore only receiving our hourly rate, which, with being sent home early, means we're not making any money.
Just something to consider when thinking of signing that contact...

Wow, this is all disturbing. I trained with PETCOs in house training under 3 groomers. Was set on my own after a year, stayed there 5 years, then moved on to private salons in Arkansas over 3 years. I learned a ton from all the other groomers from what not to do, to show style grooming. I just moved to Houston and was looking at the Petsmart around the corner. Stopped in to say hi and ask if they needed anyone, rude rude rude. Now I know why, if they over staff so much no one makes any funds. Its sad, our pets deserve better. Anyway, look into Petco, I know to go to a school it takes about 8 weeks, but your back and forth between the school and home store. The in-store was much better, got to learn slower, different groomers prospectives, and so on. Better yet, look into some private shops, but I gotta tell you, some of them are bad as well. Everyone looks real nice and caring until they get a difficult dog, then you see the true nature. Im not a great groomer, but I care about getting the dog through it safely and hopefully it will like coming back. In 8 years I never had one go to a vet for injuries. Guess Ill stay out of grooming while Im out, or just go for a store job. Would be hard for me to keep my mouth shut though!!!

groomergal in brownstown, Michigan said: It all depends on the type of equipment you want. The kit comes with clippers, 3 guard combs, a few blades to start you off with, scissors (8" straights & curves, thinning shears, short straights and a pair of safety ball tipped curves), greyhound comb, one or two brushes, a small jar of quickstop, small and large nail clippers and some other odds and ends. The kit cost is 650 and they start taking it out of your check after academy (32.50 each pay). I bought a lot of things prior to getting the kit and as you will see you will want better things as you go along. Good Luck!

Pets art is a joke!I started there as a bather.... Had to bath a minimum of 100 dogs. Then they sign you up for grooming academy. The kit they give you is crap. You are better off getting the item for your kit somewhere else. The clippers are heavy and blow heat on your hand. They will give you a callus on your thumb. It is all cheap and they charge you an arm and a leg for it. They can't charge you for the academy because the send you to another store wher thou have to work in one of their salons doing your training with a supposed trainer. The groomers get pissed because you are taking dogs from them so they treat you like crap.we had to share dogs. They do teach you the basics though. We had To call their list of customers and offer them a discount to let students do their dogs. You are there for a month. I live in Missisippi and had to drive to Macon,Ga for academy. Then they send you Back to your store and you have to groom 100 dogs in 8 weeks and they have to be specific kinds of dogs and kinds of cuts you have to do. Not just any dogs that you groom. You will have to groom alot of dogs that don't count! You get no credit for them at all. Then if and when you complete this task they put you on commission vs hourly. If you don't commission out two times in a row they write you up. They make you sign a two year contract that is crap. They can not hold you to it. I quit Petsmart because of all the backstabbing crap that goes On in the salon. And, they wanted to keep changing the rules. I now own my own grooming salon and make 5 times the money. Had to invest 10 grand for all the equipment but was well worth it! No crappy attitudes or pissed off customers that take out their discontent on you. Happy and peaceful now.

groomergal in brownstown, Michigan said: It all depends on the type of equipment you want. The kit comes with clippers, 3 guard combs, a few blades to start you off with, scissors (8" straights & curves, thinning shears, short straights and a pair of safety ball tipped curves), greyhound comb, one or two brushes, a small jar of quickstop, small and large nail clippers and some other odds and ends. The kit cost is 650 and they start taking it out of your check after academy (32.50 each pay). I bought a lot of things prior to getting the kit and as you will see you will want better things as you go along. Good Luck!

My kit came with the straights curves thinning shears, clippers a blade of each size large trimmers cheap comb and dematting tool and a rake. Set of plastic guards and a book.

I went to academy about a year ago. The grooming kit is junk. In the end I ended up having to buy most of my own shears. My academy was 3 hrs. from home. The company paid for my hotel. The only meal provided was breakfast. Most of us barely ate for the month because we couldn't afford it. There were many days in that month where we did not touch dogs. Didn't even get a demo of the breeds we were supposed to be learning. When I got back it was an even bigger nightmare. I personally didn't have anybody watch over me for 95% of my 100 dogs. Overall the only thing you really learn is how to shave a dog down. I am beyond stressed most days at work. I get panic attacks because I don't have any confidence in what I'm doing. It feels like the company treats us like cattle. Sending bathers that may not be ready into becoming groomers. My whole experience has caused me to start looking for another career. I know of several people that have had a similar experience. I really miss being a bather.

The place is just stressful as hell, based on numbers vs quality, and not to mention overpriced for a crappy groom by an uneducated 'groomer' trained with a curriculum NOT written by a groomer. And the place is just getting worse with all their rules and regulations.

'groomer' in Ft Myers, don't lose heart, just get out of the Mart! Grooming can be a fantastic and satisfying job but it's places like Pmart that drive you into burnout because they care about nothing but the almighty dollar. Not the pets, not the groomers, just the money. You can NOT expect ONE salon manager who may not even be qualified herself, to both manage a salon full PLUS teach up to 10 (more?) people with a vague and incorrect curriculum.

If you want to work for a corporation then go to Petco. If you want to learn, find someone to apprentice with or a reputable grooming school. But, forget about Petsmart.

JoAnn Sutcliffe in Glocester, Rhode Island said: Hi,
How successful is a career in Pet Grooming? Are there placement positions after the course is completed. Roughly, how long does it usually take for someone to develop a good career in this field? I'm been involved with animals for years and I'm going through a middle life career change @ this time. I don't want to invest time and money unless it offer me a future. Please advise...

Grooming CAN be a very profitable career if you have the artistic talent and outgoing attitude, as well as the ability to pick up on the techniques needed. Placement positions will depend greatly on your location and schooling choice. I was trained privately through an apprenticeship and have done continuing education with one of the judges from my first grooming competition. I have never had trouble finding a job.

Length of time depends on your learning ability, dexterity, and how serious you are about learning. I was at my own table within a couple of months where I learned, and I'd started out as a bather/brusher for 2 years prior, with a little bit of experience showing Shetland Sheepdogs.

10 years later, I've competed in Mix Breeds and Mini Poodles, branching into Terriers and Sporting, and eventually Bichons. I've owned my own business, but am now working with a mobile grooming franchise in my hometown. I make upwards of $2-3k a month doing 4-8 dogs daily 4-5 days a week, and am currently training another groomer, with another waiting in line. I am also in the running for the Best Of the City for groomers. I've been on TV, in magazines, newspaper... to say the least, I will never do anything but grooming. I groom dogs and cats both, wanting to learn show cattle and horse clipping as well. It indeed can be a very profitable business and career, but don't go into it for the money alone. Your heart has to be in it to be success

Actually as of about mid March they have changed the grooming kits as they realised they were not up to par. The new stuff is quite good but you might opt to purchase it without the clippers (now an option although, my academy instructor says the new ones are good.)The kit can no longer come out of your paycheck but is financed with Oster. Also, the academy program WAS written with the input of atleast one groomer that I know of. This was many years ago and the company has been working on updating the info from what i understand. I work in an academy store and my academy instructor is NOT my salon manager. Super nice since it gives the salon manager time to manage the salon, even when academy is in session.

Not all academies are created equally and like with any career, you get out what you put in. You will need to practice, do contining education, etc. on your own. Find a great groomer in your salon to mentor you. PetSmart is about the well-being of the pets and the staff and is trying very hard to become a more positive work environment. Not all salons operate how they should...and this is often because the salon managers are overloaded. This is being looked into and will hopefully be resolved.

As with any career you willl find people who "fit" with PetSmart and have been with the company 20+ years and those who "don't fit".

It is true though that if you go into it for money alone, you will not find success. My most successful groomers live to groom.

I work for petsmart and am going to academy in february. You have to work as a bather for 4 months first. Then they will give you the option to go to academy. You do not pay for the classes but you have to sign a 2 year contract. You can buy the oster kit but it's better to buy your own tools. You can buyt them cheapest on petedge.com. you need:

also if you are thinking of becomming a groomer just know it is really hard work. it's not all fun and you dont get to play with the dogs. Its hard work! you get mean dogs who will bite you and scratch you and fight you. it happens!

Loves2groom in Minnesota said: the two year contract you sign is rough. Most petsmart stores treat their employees like crap and it is all about add-ons. Even if the pet parent is not interested, you will get yelled at for not asking them everytime. Then they will tell you to groom way too many dogs for comfort and if you get overtime you will get yelled at. If you don't get the dogs done in time they will yell at you some more. Not to mention that the request dogs that you build up in that two years are petsmart property and when you can't stand it anymore and you want to quit, they will try to sue you for trying to take the request dogs with you. It's worth it to pay to go to an actual grooming school with master groomers.

It is nice to know this. I see the high turnover rate in the Macon, GA branch; the groomers are not treated well, neither are the bathers. As a pet parent, and someone actively involved for years in rescue/foster/transport/adoptions, I was treated so rudely and poorly by the staff. I only asked for a money back guarentee one time, and it was like an act of Congress. The manager said I could only do this twice and they would refuse me as a customer. I have spent in the 10's of thousands over the past 17 years here in Macon with them, and am transferring all my dogs to a local groomer. Sometimes they close before the posted hours, they under or overestimate the time the pet is ready, they don't greet you, they seem likes it's an effort to be there. It is the worst service I've ever experienced of any business in Macon, GA.

In Macon, GA the groomers are probably overworked/underpaid, hence , the high turnover rate. I would always tip 20% , but I have been treated so poorly the last 6 times, I am taking all my dogs to a local groomer. I have spent thousands of dollars, working w/ rescues/ transports/etc. and always used PetSmart. Not any more, they just lost a lot of money with losing me as a customer. I am also a local doctor, and know a lot of people in our community; I will not be referring any friends or patients to the Macon store. The new groomer I can keep in business (probably with just a few rescuers like myself and local people). It is like an act of Congress with PetSmart to get an appointment, sign in, pick up , all with a nasty attitude, excluding 2 groomers. If I ran a business like that, I would not only be reported to the medical board as a doctor, but out of practice!

I appreciate everyone posting in this thread. I am seriously contemplating a career change. I am very happy and satisfied the way my dogs are treated at Petsmart.

It is my understanding that everyone starts off as a bather. Does Petsmart provide training for professional bathers? Also are there safety precautions and equipment provided for bathers? Aside from bathing dogs/cats, are the bathers responsible for nail grooming, teeth brushing, and anal express? If anyone can also advise what is the average hourly salary, I would appreciate it.

Bathers are provided basic equipment and training. From what I understand the training varies greatly from store to store so you will have to do a little homework on your own and be proactove. Nails, ears, anal glands, tooth brushing, cleaning up pet waste, disinfectimg everything. ...all part of the job. It can be very rewarding and an excellent career path if you are up for it. It can also be stressful, you will be wet a lot of the time. Athletes foot and hair splinters are common. If that doesnt deter you then you might be great. Safety for you and the pet is always petsmarts top priority

I appreciate everyone posting in this thread. I am seriously contemplating a career change. I am very happy and satisfied the way my dogs are treated at Petsmart.

It is my understanding that everyone starts off as a bather. Does Petsmart provide training for professional bathers? Also are there safety precautions and equipment provided for bathers? Aside from bathing dogs/cats, are the bathers responsible for nail grooming, teeth brushing, and anal express? If anyone can also advise what is the average hourly salary, I would appreciate it.

Thank you in advance!

A bather does the following: bath, dry, nail clipping and grinding, brushing teeth, expressing anal glands, sanitary trims, "rounding" feet, shaving between paw pads, cleaning ears and brushing fur. There's also answering phones, making appointments, checking dogs in, and helping others when you are able to(showing you are a team player always helps).
You use equipment provided by Petsmart for all the bathers to use (they are community tools, not your own set), you have to pass safety and policy tests and you will be trained. The amount and extent of hands on training you get depends on the salon.
You will have to deal with all kinds of dogs of all kinds of ages and temperaments. It is not a glamorous job. You will get bitten, you will get scratched and bruised, you will get anal glands on you you will have to pull and lift dogs. It's a hard job with difficult dogs and sometimes difficult customers. With all that being said, I have been a bather with Petsmart for a year and am going to go to grooming academy with them as soon as the opportunity arises.
Also, bathers do not work with cats at all. Cats are only handled by cat certified groomers (which entails 2+ years of being a certified dog groomer with Petsmart first). Not all Petsmart salons have cat groomers either.

Wow. Not a whole lotta love for Petsmart Grooming. Well, most of the comments that I have read seem like the author was not putting in the work necessary to be a successful product of Petsmart Academy. However, there are some different things at work here:

1. The Academy Trainer -- they have to be awesome. I know they probably don't ALL have this trait, but ours does. It just so happens that my Academy trainer was also my Salon Manager. We are an Academy store, so my training was in-house. It was convenient for me, but it isn't always for everyone else who travels from other places in the district. Our trainer is fantastic. Years of experience in different grooming salons and environments. She teaches from experience and the book, hand in hand. She makes it her own.

2. The Salon. They have to be accepting. If not, you will probably not get a whole lot of actual grooming experience. They won't book dogs for the academy and if they do, they are probably bad. But, even then -- it is what you make of it.

3. What you put into it. Shavedowns are a part of life, people. It's 75% of what you will be doing day in and day out. It's not just in training. If you want to learn other patterns but shavedowns are in high demand -- SET A PATTERN before shaving it down! You can make the best of a bad situation, it's all in the attitude.

We are very lucky to have a crew who (for the most part) loves what they do. We love money, yes ... but it can't be all about the money. It won't buy you happiness and it won't make you enjoy your job. If you are so devastatingly miserable (like some of the above posts) you have bigger problems than Petsmart. Let's face it -- a billions of dollars industry can't be the worst place in the world to be employed. Yes, I do have my days where I think, "what the hell am I doing here!" But in the long run, I wouldn't be anywhere else.

If you are going to be successful -- you will have to do independent research and make the craft your own.

JoAnn Sutcliffe in Glocester, Rhode Island said: Hi,
How successful is a career in Pet Grooming? Are there placement positions after the course is completed. Roughly, how long does it usually take for someone to develop a good career in this field? I'm been involved with animals for years and I'm going through a middle life career change @ this time. I don't want to invest time and money unless it offer me a future. Please advise...

It depends on your store manager, your salon manager (if you have one and you are lucky if you do). It depends on your co workers if they like you or not. My experience has been very very bad. I have only been there a little over a month, and i am constantly being told on. I am not trained. Every time I am trained, my trainer runs and tattles on me when I do something wrong. If you don't dry it right, or the dog slips out of the lead or runs out of the kennel etc.
I didn't realize that my fate depended on the opinions of my co workers. I hate that. I would never have started otherwise. I do not want my fave judged on some immature little hole running their mouth. Instead of telling on people, train them.
I also found out that even if you get your education elsewhere, and try to be a groomer, they still want you to go to school. The way people talk to you in the salon is crazy.
I have had 2 sit downs because of things happening. I didn't know it would be about this, otherwise i would never have done it. Be careful, make sure you have a good trainer, don't trust the people you work with. And above all else watch your back because no one is going to do it for you unless you are really really really lucky. Good luck

im at the end of my 2 yr contract with petsmart and im quitting due to a lot of reasons, now I know their is something after that, but I just cant remember. Does anyone know if its you cant open a biz for a yr within a certain amount of distance or if its you cant work for another grooming place within a certain amount of distance. I was looking into working at a private groom shop. Would be greatly appreciated.

I found petsmart to be an utter joke. I didn't know too much about grooming before I joined up so I was hired as a bather brusher. We were told that dogs could only be washed in cold water because warm water "messed up their skin chemistry"....what?! I was told before I was hired that I'd get 1 weekend day off (friday, saturday, or sunday) every other week and one full weekend off every month. I didn't have a weekend DAY off for almost 8 weeks. When I brought this up with the manager they said I wasn't flexible enough.

The salon manager had only been grooming for about 6 months, and everyone there resented her. I personally liked her, but she definitely didn't have the manager experience she needed. One girl was fired while I was there for rough handling animals, but she had done it multiple times before they took any action at all.

Everyone I asked there said their grooming school is a total joke, and to NOT do it.

I now work at an ACTUAL grooming boutique where I'm learning to groom properly. They thought the rules at petsmart are quite amusing, like how cats can only be groomed with a 10 blade and you can never use scissors on them. Or how bather brushers were only ever allowed to use a 10 blade for anything, even though we were expected to do tidies. The scissors we were given couldn't even cut paper.

I am older than most of you (assuming), back in the late 80's I attended Pedigree Career Institute. This was the only grooming school of it's kind in the country. Way before the chain salons were even thought about. The course was 4 months long,full time, 5 days a week from 8am to 4pm. When the course was completed I received a certification as an "AKC all breed Dog Groomer". Each month a different curriculum was studied. Brushouts, Terriers, Poodles, and the last month I learned the "shortcuts" that were often used in salons, snap on combs for example.
There was also class room time every day where I learned the specifics of every akc breed, as well as the akc standard grooming for every breed. I learned basic first aid, how to read body language, how to safely restrain and much more that I can only guess that the current academy does not have time to teach. I started this training with absolutely no experience handling dogs, and when I completed it I was picked as the person in my class who showed the most improvement.

I have worked for private salons for 15 years, I took a break to be a stay at home mom for a while. I learned so much more out in the "real world" of grooming, and there is a lot to be said for having years of experience. Unfortunately, most private salons don't offer paid benefits and I am at a point in my life where I need this. I have been working for Petsmart for about 3 months,and i do love the job BUT....It is very frustrating for me that I am not allowed to use all of my knowledge and talent. I am looked down upon because I didn't attend "academy". I look around me and I see the girls struggling with this or that and I know I can help them, but they don't want my help because they didn't learn it in "adademy"! And when they see me dealing with a hard to handle dog, they feel it necessary to come to my assistance (if I need help I will ask for it), and usually this makes the situation worse!

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I fall behind because of the drying restrictions I have to follow, and also because I take pride in my work and I will not send a dog home unless I feel it looks perfect. In my short time at this job I have had so many clients tell me how great the dog looks, and dogs that have negative comments in their records (bites,won't allow to cut nails, takes 2 people to groom), 95% of them I have groomed with little difficulty and their owners find it amazing that I their dog allowed me to do "whatever" to them. I do not just give up when a dog is being difficult. People who have only been grooming for a short time just do not have the experience to know how to handle a dog that doesn't want to be handled! Bottom line....I feel I need to sacrifice having the dog look "perfect" in order to have the dog finished in the time I am required to have him finished.